Four out of five hospitals quick on midwives, NHS figures reveal

Nationwide Audit Office said in November that NHS necessary 2,300 a lot more midwives, though the Royal School of Midwives puts the figure at four,800. Photograph: Christopher Furlong/Getty Photographs

4 out of five hospitals have also number of midwives, despite the ongoing child boom, official NHS figures reveal.

Midwife shortages are so acute in some elements of England that hospitals have practically one in five posts in their maternity units unfilled, in accordance to responses to freedom of details requests.

In January, West Hertfordshire Hospitals NHS Trust had a vacancy fee of 17.eight%, the highest in England, which means it is 32 midwives under the 208 it wants, according to investigation carried out by BBC Radio 4′s Woman’s Hour.

10 other hospital trusts, which includes 6 in London, where significantly of the maternity care offered has been judged inadequate in surveys and reviews, also had consistently high vacancy rates amongst 2011 and the commence of this yr.

The 99 trusts which responded to Woman’s Hour’s inquiries employed 14,550 midwives in January, even though in between them have been 561 midwives quick. Even though that was the lowest it had been considering that 2011, the true vacancy price is very likely to be increased as about 60 other trusts with maternity units did not react.

The National Audit Office said in November that the NHS required 2,300 much more midwives, even though the Royal College of Midwives (RCM) puts the figure at 4,800.

Cathy Warwick, the RCM’s chief executive, said the truth that midwifery vacancies are not being filled “is a recipe for disaster and can only have a disastrous impact on personnel morale, burnout and sickness rates, which only make maternity services even more quick-staffed.”

Some hospitals “bury their heads in the sand” by not reviewing their maternity staffing requirements for as extended as 10 many years as they know they can’t afford to retain the services of additional midwives, Warwick claimed.

Dr Dan Poulter, the overall health minister, mentioned the government was determined to guarantee that the maternity workforce was big enough to cope with growing demand, and that a record total of six,000 midwives are being trained.

“The NHS is a safe area to give birth, with girls reporting higher levels of trust and confidence in staff,” Poulter mentioned.

Four out of five hospitals quick on midwives, NHS figures reveal